Mother Knows Best
by GhostPhoenix
Summary: If Eugene never cut Rapunzel's hair, that would COMPLETELY change the ending! ...Or at least how you get o the ending. He has to go on a journey to save Rapunzel, and hopefully confess his feelings in the end. Rated T just in case. Please don't make fun of my inability to create a description.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the ideas of Tangled.

Since I'm assuming we've all seen this movie, I'm not putting the full scene that I rewrote. I'm just putting the main portion of it, and quoting the movie as best as I can. So, yeah. Please don't complain that it's incorrect.

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Prologue

The young blond fought against the chains that were wrapped around her wrists. She tried to yell out against the rag that had been tied around her head, covering her mouth, but it was useless. Struggling, she tried to get to the wounded man who was keeled over, bleeding, on the other side of the room.

"Rapunzel!" Screamed the sadistic looking woman on the other end of the chains. "Stop fighting me!"

As if on cue, the girl shook the rag off and got it to reston her shoulders. "No! I will never stop fighting you! For the rest of my life, I will never stop!" The black-haired lady stopped tugging as the two glared at each other for a moment, before the girl spoke again. "Let me heal him!" Demanded the teenager, which drew no response from her 'mother'.

"But if you let me save him, I will go with you." The negotiation seemed to be working. "I won't try to leave."

"No… Rapunzel…" The man breathed.

"I will never run. We'll be together forever. Exactly the way you want." The woman sighed and agreed as she released Repunsel from the chains, and instead tied up the man as Rapunzel threw herself on the ground next to her friend.

"Eugene!" She held his face in her hands as she stared into his eyes. "You're gonna be okay…" She said in a near whisper as she began to wrap her hair around his torso, where his stab wound was.

"Rapunzel… Don't…" He pleaded weakly, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I can't let you die…" Rapunzel breathed, causing him to shake his head.

"But if you do… You'll die…" She shook her head as she began to sing.

_Flower gleam and glow._

_Let your power shine._

_Let the clock reverse._

_Bring back what was once mine._

_Change the fate's design._

_Save what has been lost._

_What once was mine._

Her hair glowed with the brilliance of the stars, as her magnificent voice filled the small space, causing the man to try to fight.

"N… No…! Rapunzel…! S… Stop…!" It was too late though. His wound had healed, and the second it happened, he saw the woman pull Rapunzel away. Pull away his love.

He began to strain against the chains as he caught one final glimpse of the girl, her expression filled with remorse and a tear in her eye, as she desended the hole on the other end of the room.

"Rapunzel!" He yelled as he tried to get to her. "Rapunzeeeeeel!"

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**AN**: Short, sweet, and to the point. It's definitely not the longest prologue, but that's really just as long as I needed.


	2. The Journey's Not Over Yet

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the ideas of Tangled.

Since Rapunzel and Eugene are now separated, there are random P.O.V. shifts.

* * *

Chapter One

The Journey's Not Over Yet

_**:…Rapunzel…:**_

The blond curled up on the pile of hay, pulling her knees to her chest. Her red, puffy face was streaked with tear stains. Many thoughts were floating around in her mind at uncontrollable speeds, causing her head to pound. One thought, though, kept appearing in her head, more often than all the rest, and that thought was the man she'd healed earlier. The man she'd given up her freedom for.

Eugene.

She missed him-wanted him to be around. It felt weird, him not being there. Almost as if there was a void in her, that couldn't be filled by anything else. And this time, she didn't even have Pascal to help fill that. _What am I going to do…? _She wondered to herself.

"Rapunzel!" She heard a woman's voice command off in the distance. "I'm home!" She sniffled as she stood and walked from her room and into the living room, to meet the woman who had caused her to be in this position.

"Good evening, Gothel." Rapunzel greeted, her voice hoarse.

"Good evening, Dear." Spoke Gothel as she moved to hug the child in front of her, only to have the blond back away. She sighed.

"Alright. Let's get this over with, then I'll make you your dinner." Rapunzel nodded as the older woman pulled out a brush and began brushing the girl's hair.

The girl began to sing quietly, her healing incantation, which she had recently learned kept her 'mother' young forever. Her haired glowed, and her mother underwent a brief change. She appeared old for a few seconds, before she became young again, looking even a little younger than she had beforehand.

"Ahhh… That's so much better." She gave a smile as she sighed. "I'm going to make your dinner, Rapunzel."

Shaking her head, she responded. "I'm not hungry." She then turned, and walked away.

"But, Rapunzel. You have to eat at some point." The girl shook her head and walked back to her room, away from her once parental figure.

As she curled back up on her bed, the silent tears began to fall again.

_Eugene…_

* * *

_**:…Eugene…:**_

The man wiped his face, his half-lidded eyes glancing around the room. Hearing a quiet sqeak to his left, he looked down, and saw instantly what had made the noise.

"Pascal?" He asked, instantly sitting up straighter. "Pascal. Help. You gotta get me outta here." He looked with pleading eyes onto the small reptile, which merely went to the small passage that Rapunzel and her 'mother' had used to make their leave.

"No! Pascal! Wait!" He tried to go after the creature, but the chains held him back, causing him to only be able to sit and watch as Pascal crawled down the hole. "GAH!" He hit himself in the head, feeling his anger and frustration build up and overflow.

There was no hope now. There was no way he would be able to save Rapunzel. There was no way out of his chains. No way to get out of the infernal tower. _Maybe this is how Rapunzel felt for all these years…?_

He sighed as he moved back to the wall and curled up in a ball. His stomach began grumbling as the pangs of hunger began setting in.

"Rapunzel…" He breathed as she rested and shut his eyes.

* * *

_**:…Rapunzel…:**_

The girl sniffled as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. "I was crying in my sleep…" She spoke to herself. Sniffling again, she stood and walked from the room, content with the knowledge that Gothel wouldn't be there.

She felt and heard her stomach growl, and knew she should've accepted her mother's invitation to eat. She just couldn't though. She'd rather die of hunger than live with that woman forever.

Sitting in the kitchen, she was resisting the urge to eat, though her stomach was basically screaming at her, and thirst also began to affect her. "No. I need to eat." She told herself. "I don't need to suffer more than she makes me suffer." She shook her head as she stood and searched for food.

"I mean, there's no reason that I should die of dehydration or hunger because I'm stuck… here…" She trailed off at the end, as more thoughts of _him _crossed her mind. More thoughts of being stuck here until she grew old and died of natural causes. Even more silent tears streamed down her cheeks as she paused while she was in the process of reaching for the extra food that was left on the counter.

"Then again…" She paused as she began to retract her hand. She shook her head, as she quickly grabbed the food before she changed her mind and began to eat.

* * *

_**:…Eugene…:**_

It had been a full day since Eugene had been tied up and left to die. He began to accept that it was the end for sure. Began to accept that there was no way out.

_I wonder how long it'll take to die of thirst… _He thought to himself. _Can't be more than a few days…_

"CRASH!" He heard from somewhere nearby. Swiveling his head furiously, he began trying to figure out where exactly the sound had come from.

"Hello?" Cautiously, he stood, still slightly hunched over, though. "Hello?" He asked again, looking all over the place.

"Hey, Rider!" The voice sounded oddly familiar to the captive man, who ran as close as he could to the window, and glanced down, his jaw dropping once he saw who was standing there. It was the group from the Snuggly Duckling.

"Hey! Guys! What're you doing here?" He asked, a smile appearing on his face. He had to admit, at first, these guys scared the crap out of him, but now that they'd saved him twice before, he didn't think that so much anymore.

"This little guy brought us here!" Eugene watched as they held up a small green object, which Eugene quickly recognized.

"Pascal!" He yelled, hope taking over him.

"We're here to get you out!" responded one of the men who had come to help.

"Really? You guys are the best! There should be a passageway somewhere at the bottom of the tower!" The men searched, and quickly found a doorway big enough for a human to enter, accompanied by a long stariwell that would make an Olypic runner in training freak out.

* * *

"I really can't thank you guys enough." Praised Eugene. "You've helped me three times now, and I'm sure we'll end up meeting each other again." Everyone in the crowd of close to twenty nodded in agreeance.

"Well… I guess now I have to head off to save Rapunzel."

"Take care, Flynn Ryder." He smiled.

"Please, call me Eugene. Eugene Fitzherbert." He turned to walk away. "Well, I guess I'm off." And with that, Eugene Fitzherbert set off. In his possession was nothing more than Pascal, the clothes on his back, and a satchel filled with his wanted poster, a frying pan, the lost princess' crown, and enough food and water to last him three days.

"This… Is gonna be interesting." He spoke as he gave a final wave to his 'ruffian' friends.


End file.
